A motion proposed on the Libertarian National Committee’s public business list on Friday seeks to rescind an Executive Committee decision to enter the LNC into a joint fundraising agreement with the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Editorial note: Voting on a ballot is now underway since this article was initially published. Readers can find the vote tally maintained by the Libertarian National Committee here. A separate motion to approve the agreement with amendments is also in progress. The results of the initial motion to rescind the Executive Committee decision will be held until the voting on the amendment is completed.
The motion, proposed by LNC Secretary Caryn Ann Harlos, aims to overturn a decision made by the Executive Committee on Thursday night. This decision would reportedly see the LNC enter into an agreement where it would receive a portion of donations intended for the Kennedy campaign in exchange for allowing the independent candidate to take advantage of the LNC’s higher individual donor limit.
Harlos believes the decision violates the party’s bylaws and has expressed concern over the circumstances surrounding the meeting, which involved only the Executive Committee and not the full Libertarian National Committee. She argues that the full committee should have had a say in the matter and noted that LNC Vice Chair Mark Rutherford was also not present at the meeting that did occur. Harlos further clarified that if her motion to rescind the decision is successfully passed, the Committee could call for a full LNC meeting to make a new motion with all members participating in five days.
According to Third Party Watch, a Libertarian Party watchdog site that frequently covers national committee meetings, the decision would allow the Kennedy campaign, which has a lower individual donation limit of $3,300, to take advantage of the LNC’s much higher limit of $41,300. In exchange for letting Kennedy donors take advantage of the higher donor cap, the LNC would receive ten percent of the donations, reportedly amounting to $100,000 each month of the agreement per commentary made during the meeting. It’s worth noting that the full details surrounding the agreement have not yet been released to the public.
The Committee authorized the agreement by a margin of four to one with one abstention, with LNC Secretary Caryn Ann Harlos voting no and LNC Treasurer Bill Redpath abstaining.
As of now, the motion to rescind the Executive Committee decision has been co-sponsored by three other LNC members, including LNC Treasurer Bill Redpath, Region 3 North Representative Dustin Nanna, and Region 3 South Representative Paul Darr. However, voting is not yet underway.
Voting on the motion to rescind the Executive Committee decision to enter into the agreement is now underway since this article was first posted. There is also a concurrent amendment to the motion to approve the agreement “so long as Chase Oliver and Mike Ter Maat remain the nominees” that is being voted upon.
According to the LNC business list, the Chair has ruled the initial motion can proceed but the results are held until the amendment via substitution motion is concluded.